The voter fraud that wasn’t. Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz (R) has little if nothing to show for a voter fraud investigation that has gone on for nearly 18 months and cost the state almost $150,000. Schultz previously claimed there was a ‘mountain’ of evidence. He said, “There’re certainly a lot of potential cases.” Let’s look at this ‘mountain’.

fSchultz made ‘ballot security’ his signature issue since taking office in 2011, struck a two-year deal with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation in July 2012 to assign an agent full time to investigating voter fraud cases, according to the DesMoinesRegister.

After all of the grandstanding,figures provided by the secretary’s office, yielded criminal charges in 16 cases, of which five have resulted in guilty pleas and five have been dismissed. None of the cases has as of yet gone to trial.

The DCI was paid $149,200 for its efforts so far and could receive up to $280,000 out of the secretary of state’s budget.

Three of the guilty pleas involved registration by felons whose voting rights had not been restored, including one who also was not a U.S. citizen.

A fourth case concerned a woman who obtained and cast an absentee ballot on behalf of her daughter, while a fifth was an identity theft case in which a man registered to vote while applying for a driver’s license in the name of his dead brother.

In all three cases involving felons, the accused and their lawyers said they believed their rights had been restored. They pleaded guilty, lawyers said, because the deals offered by prosecutors were safer bets than going to trial and risking prison time.

Nickie Dean Perkins, for example, registered and voted in Marshall County in 2012 under the mistaken belief that his voting rights had been reinstated at the end of his probation.

But Perkins decided to plead guilty rather than face a potential 10 years prison sentence even though the case, according to his attorney, had a good chance. Others in the investigation had similar stories.

Still yet, even with a huge loss monetarily for the state, Schultz sees this as a win against voter fraud. Somehow.

What a waste of taxpayer money by the “fiscally conservative” Matt Schultz. New leaders please.

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/akinsc Carla Akins

Because in all these cases, all 16 of them – there was some intent to defraud. The felons thought they could vote, the mother thought she’d handle her daughter’s business, etc.. No one was making up ID’s, voting twice. three times or more. Many of these should have been cleared up at the country registers office. Good grief.

Aggie L

So…that’s 16 felony convictions?

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/akinsc Carla Akins

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I was being flippant in the first sentence. Of the 16 charged – 3 were felons. All thought their rights had been reinstated after they had completed probation. 5 of the 16 pled guilty, including the 3 felons, the mom completing her daughter’s absentee ballot for her and the 5th was an identity theft issue. % of the 16 dismissed and the remaining have yet to go to court.

tiredoftea

Another rightie shibboleth exposed for the stupidity that it is! It’s even money that this crusade of ignorance will continue, even in IA.

http://www.thecosmicsurfer-rantingsofamadwoman.com/ Cosmic_Surfer

Some GOP official always trying to prove someone is doing something illegal when the facts show, the GOP lost the WH in 2008 and got more votes in 2012 than Republicans.

Just another example of playing to the paranoid bubble dwellers (ideologues) instead of doing one’s job.

lebaby

Really now? Did anyone ever expect it to amount to anything besides the usual “Oh, no, no wrongdoing by us angelic Republibaggers! Huh uh!” Meanwhile, the entire lot of them is corrupt.

Mick Rusk

Thieves always have the biggest locks!

Tommy6860

All of that effort at chasing law breaking ghosts, was nothing ore than an ulterior motive of getting the masses stirred up so they can try to pass voter restriction laws on those who won’t (don’t) vote republican. If a simple majority of people could just read what these assholes are really attempting to do, they’d can their asses. Allowing more freedom to vote would eliminate breaking laws, restricting them would create more problems.